With the Yukon warming more than twice as fast as the rest of Canada, the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure present an urgent concern. The completion of the Yukon Highways Climate Risk Assessment and Action Plan marked a critical milestone in advancing the Government of Yukon’s climate adaptation goals.
The Government’s Highways and Public Works, Transportation Engineering Branch engaged our team to develop an action plan to address climate and geohazard risks across 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of highways and 15 corridors. The plan will support the resilience of the Government’s highway network against climate change and seven geohazards—permafrost thaw, overflow ice (aufeis), flooding, erosion, landslides, avalanches, and wildfires—under both current and future (2050s) conditions.
We designed adaptation measures to address a range of challenges and prioritized them based on factors such as effort, cost, and implementation timeline. Importantly, the adaptation measures went beyond traditional engineering solutions, incorporating broader considerations like governance and monitoring to keep resilience centered throughout the infrastructure life cycle.
This action plan will help increase the resilience of the Yukon’s highway infrastructure by connecting remote communities, enabling emergency response, and supporting the economy.
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